Win a trip to India and photograph the Dalai Lama : Travel Photographer of the Year is delighted to announce that the overall winner of TPOTY 2007 will have the unique opportunity to spend up to two days photographing His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, the Tibetan settlement in Northern India. This opportunity to photograph the daily life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is part of an unforgettable visit to India organised by High & Wild, much of which will be spent in and around Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan Government in exile, allowing the winner time to capture a superb photo essay. Entries for TPOTY 2007 are now open and close on October 3rd. The competition is open to amateur and professional photographers.

India - Dharamsala - Tibetan settlement
In addition, the Travel Photographer of the Year 2007 will receive an Apple MacBook with Aperture 1.5 software, Adobe CS3 Web Premium software, a £2,500 TPOTY bursary, and a Plastic Sandwich leather portfolio book. Travel Photographer of the Year organiser, Chris Coe, said, “We are honoured to be able to offer such a magnificent prize for the overall winner of this year’s competition. The High & Wild trip to Dharamsala offers everything a serious travel photographer could wish for; incredible mountain and forest scenery, historical architecture, fascinating Tibetan, Buddhist and Indian cultures, the Tibetan Children’s Village, amazing people photography and, of course, a priceless opportunity - the chance to document a day in the life of the Dalai Lama.”

Travel photographer of the Year photo contest
“This trip, together with the other elements of the prize, provide a once in a lifetime experience and one that travel photographers across the world would want to win. We very much look forward to seeing the entries submitted for this year’s competition. In order to give people as much time as possible, we are extending our closing date to October 3rd.”

Win a trip to India and photograph the Dalai Lama
Travel Photographer of the Year 2007 also offers splendid prizes for the winners of the three Portfolio categories and the One Shot category, including trips to Tanzania, the Swiss and French Alps and China, the latest professional-level photographic equipment and software, TPOTY cash bursaries and an exhibition at a central London gallery. In addition, TPOTY 2007 has a New Talent category, designed to kick-start or to give a major boost to a new career in photography, and a Young Travel Photographer of the Year category, for those aged 16 and under.

About His Holiness the Dalai Lama
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern Tibet. At the age of two the child, who was named Lhamo Dhondup at that time was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and patron saint of Tibet. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity.